“Not only does [a] purifying and ennobling process continue throughout a single lifetime, but through many, as the ego evolves to higher and higher stages of development through successive lives or re-embodiments ... [T]he twin concepts of reincarnation and karma or destiny are central to [Steiner’s] spiritual-scientific system.” — Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 28.

There is no science in Anthroposophy (i.e., “spiritual science”). And, sadly, there is very little real spirit in it, either.

Anthroposophists disparage reality, calling the physical universe a “materialistic” sphere of entropy and death. They want to inhabit a higher, immaterial universe of living spirits. Probably most human beings can sympathize with this aspiration. We all want meaning and magic in our lives. But unless we open our eyes to factual truth — what we might call reality — the aspiration in and of itself will get us nowhere. Consider. We know for certain that some forms of life exist: ourselves, dogs, cats, whales, cattle, horses... And where do they exist? Right here, in the real, physical universe.

And what about spirit? Do we know for certain that some forms of spirit exist? Of course. The spirit of friendship, the spirit of love, the spirit of mercy, the spirit of honesty, the spirit of truthfulness, the spirit of reverence... And where do these forms of spirit exist? Right here, in the real, physical universe; they exist in the hearts and minds that we, as real forms of life, possess.

To anyone who wishes for a universe of living spirit, I would say: Open your eyes. It is right here. It is all around you. In the real, physical universe. You don't need to flee to your fantasies; stand instead, proudly, on fact.

___________

"It is bias that causes people to imagine that their heads are the most perfect part of themselves.  It is certainly structured in a most complicated way, but it is really just a metamorphosed cuttlefish.” — Rudolf Steiner,  PRACTICAL ADVICE TO TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. 98.

Steiner and his followers minimize the importance not only of the head but also the brain. As a result, the effects on Waldorf education can be deeply damaging.  [See, e.g., "Thinking", "Thinking Cap", and "Steiner's Specific".] 

___________

"Over and above the physical body, spiritual science [i.e., Anthroposophy] recognizes a second essential principle in Man: it is that which Steiner usually refers to as the ‘etheric body,’ though he sometimes refers to it as the ‘life-body’ or ‘formative-forces-body’ ... [T]he etheric body is accessible to investigation only to [i.e., by] those who have developed the necessary higher organs of perception.” — Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 26.

The “perception” Childs means is clairvoyance; the “organs” he refers to are invisible, nonphysical “organs of clairvoyance” that Steiner said we can develop. But clairvoyance is a delusion — it does not exist. [See “Clairvoyance”.]  Ditto for the “organs” that enable us to be clairvoyant. They don’t work because, indeed, they do not exist and cannot be developed. As for the “etheric body,” if the only way we can perceive it is to use a nonexistent form of perception, then we have no reason to think this type of body exists. But that’s is Anthroposophy for you — fantasies piled on fantasies.

Note, by the way, that the above quotation does not come from a book of spiritual speculation, or investigation into the paranormal, or theology. It comes from a book about Waldorf schools. Some of the most fervent believers in Anthroposophical nonsense teach in Waldorf schools.

___________

Picking up on yesterday’s quotation, in which Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs referred to the etheric body and organs of clairvoyance: 

“A third member of the human being is the so-called ‘astral body’ or ‘sentient body’ ... [C]reatures which possess a nervous system also possess an astral body, and this includes not only Man but the whole of the animal kingdom.” — Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 27. 

Like clairvoyance, organs of clairvoyance, and the etheric body, the astral body is a fantasy. It does not exist.

I don’t mean to be dogmatic. I cannot prove that these things are all fantasies, but surely the burden of proof lies with those who claim that these things are real. Where is the evidence? What is the proof? None is given. And, in all probability, none can be given. A single, confirmed instance of clairvoyance would shake things up. If a proven clairvoyant told us about immaterial organs of clairvoyance, etheric bodies, and astral bodies, we would have to listen. But scientists have intensively studied clairvoyance and other psychic powers, and they have found no evidence that such capabilities exist. This means that we have no reason to believe in the existence of things that can perceived only through the use of such capabilities. [See “Clairvoyance”.] 

Anthroposophists argue that clairvoyance can be found only when we are reverent and faithful, not when we are coldly rational and analytical, as scientists necessarily are. But what does this mean? To accept Steiner’s teachings, you have to stop using your brain [as Steiner recommended: see “Steiner’s Specific”, "Thinking", and “Guru”]. But the brain is the only organ of cognition that we know we possess; it offers the only path to truth that we know is reliable. Relying on your feelings, or intuition, or “clairvoyance” obviously opens the possibility of error, deception, and indeed self-deception. [See, e.g.,“Fooling”, “Reality and Fantasy”, “Steiner’s ‘Science’”, and “Thinking Cap”.]

Anthroposophists believe that Steiner was clairvoyant. Surely Steiner was the very “proven clairvoyant” we should all believe? But what confirming evidence do we have? None. Steiner made an unsupported claim, nothing more. In fact, the evidence we have collected tends to disprove Steiner’s claim. Steiner’s “clairvoyant” observations have proven to be, time after time, demonstrably false. [See, e.g., “Steiner’s Blunders” and “Millennium”.] 

___________

"The essential difference between animal and man is, according to Steiner, the fact that the human being possesses a fourth member [in addition to physical, etheric, and astral bodies] — the ‘ego’ or ‘I.’ The ego represents the factor of individualization, that which guarantees the uniqueness of every man, woman and child. The word ‘I’ is itself unique in that no person can use it to designate another.” — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 27. 

This is what passes, in Anthroposophy, as a profound insight. Here is Steiner’s original formulation of the point about the wonderful term "I": 

"I am an I only to myself; to every other being I am a you.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1979), p. 49.

Steiner's statement is true, as far as it goes. Yet what is it except a self-evident point about pronouns? As for the “profundity” of this “insight “— it is minimal. Most children grasp the essential distinction between "me" and "you" quite early.

I don't mean to trivialize. We are touching, here, on the central appeal of Anthroposophy (and many other anthropocentric ideologies). Humans are often wracked with doubt verging on despair. We are often unsure that our lives have meaning or value; we often feel small and insignificant, tiny residents in a vast, impersonal universe. How delightful it is to be told that each of us is a precious, unique individual of tremendous importance. Delightful. Alluring. Seductive. But before we build our lives around any particular ideology, no matter how alluring, we should make sure that the ideology in question makes sense. Is it grounded in reality? Are its component parts true? Anthroposophical notions about the marvelous, unique individuality of the human "I" — central though they are to the Anthroposophical worldview — collapse on close inspection.

Let's return to "the essential difference between animal and man." Steiner and Childs are simply, factually wrong about this subject. Animals are individuals. No two dogs, or cats, or parakeets, or cows, or horses, are entirely alike. Some are smarter, stronger, bigger, braver than others. Moreover, we have clear evidence that many types of animals comprehend themselves as individuals. Dolphins and chimpanzees, for instance, recognize themselves when looking into mirrors. Moreover, chimps and gorillas who have learned sign language (consider how much intelligence this requires) tell us about their desires, their wishes, their thoughts. We are smarter than they are — their thought usually seem juvenile to us — but they are sentient beings, individuals.

The chief problem with Waldorf schooling is that — like the ideology behind it — it is detached from reality. It is a jumble of fantasies, delusions, and “truths” that crumble when we examine them. Anthroposophists desperately want to believe that human beings stand at the center of the universe — they want to believe that we humans are incomparably more wondrous than any other form of life in the material universe. We can all sympathize with this desire. [See "Center" and "Tenth Hierarchy".] But humanity cannot elevate itself by telling itself lies. We must build our philosophies on the firm foundation of solid truth. Sadly, Waldorf education is built on the shifting sands of half-truths and untruths. 

___________

"The essential difference between animal and man is, according to Steiner, the fact that the human being possesses a fourth member [in addition to physical, etheric, and astral bodies] — the ‘ego’ or ‘I.’ The ego represents the factor of individualization, that which guarantees the uniqueness of every man, woman and child. The word ‘I’ is itself unique in that no person can use it to designate another.” — Waldorf teacher Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 27. 

This is what passes, in Anthroposophy, as a profound insight. Here is Steiner’s original formulation of the point about the wonderful term "I": 

"I am an I only to myself; to every other being I am a you.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1979), p. 49.

Steiner's statement is true, as far as it goes. Yet what is it except a self-evident point about pronouns? As for the “profundity” of this “insight “— it is minimal. Most children grasp the essential distinction between "me" and "you" quite early.

I don't mean to trivialize. We are touching, here, on the central appeal of Anthroposophy (and many other anthropocentric ideologies). Humans are often wracked with doubt verging on despair. We are often unsure that our lives have meaning or value; we often feel small and insignificant, tiny residents in a vast, impersonal universe. How delightful it is to be told that each of us is a precious, unique individual of tremendous importance. Delightful. Alluring. Seductive. But before we build our lives around any particular ideology, no matter how alluring, we should make sure that the ideology in question makes sense. Is it grounded in reality? Are its component parts true? Anthroposophical notions about the marvelous, unique individuality of the human "I" — central though they are to the Anthroposophical worldview — collapse on close inspection.

Let's return to "the essential difference between animal and man." Steiner and Childs are simply, factually wrong about this subject. Animals are individuals. No two dogs, or cats, or parakeets, or cows, or horses, are entirely alike. Some are smarter, stronger, bigger, braver than others. Moreover, we have clear evidence that many types of animals comprehend themselves as individuals. Dolphins and chimpanzees, for instance, recognize themselves when looking into mirrors. Moreover, chimps and gorillas who have learned sign language (consider how much intelligence this requires) tell us about their desires, their wishes, their thoughts. We are smarter than they are — their thought usually seem juvenile to us — but they are sentient beings, individuals.

The chief problem with Waldorf schooling is that — like the ideology behind it — it is detached from reality. It is a jumble of fantasies, delusions, and “truths” that crumble when we examine them. Anthroposophists desperately want to believe that human beings stand at the center of the universe — they want to believe that we humans are incomparably more wondrous than any other form of life in the material universe. We can all sympathize with this desire. [See "Center" and "Tenth Hierarchy".] But humanity cannot elevate itself by telling itself lies. We must build our philosophies on the firm foundation of solid truth. Sadly, Waldorf education is built on the shifting sands of half-truths and untruths.

___________

"Those who are not cowards know Christ is always revealing Himself; therefore, we may accept what He has revealed in the form of anthroposophy as a true Christ-revelation. [Anthroposophical Society] members have often asked me how they can establish a relationship with Christ. This is a naive question; for everything we strive for, every line we read of our anthroposophical science, is an entering into a relationship with Christ. In a certain sense, we really do nothing else." — Rudolf Steiner, TOWARD IMAGINATION (SteinerBooks, 1990), p. 36.

A cautionary note. Don't assume that Anthroposophy is a branch of Christianity.  Steiner placed great emphasis on Christ, but his teachings about Christ differ markedly from anything you will find in mainstream Christian churches. See “Was He Christian?”

___________

"Jewish parents became suspicious of the Christian thrust [at a typical Waldorf school]. A few Catholic parents expressed their discomfort with the school’s apparent pagan impulse. At one public meeting, one teacher was accused of having said that Rudolf Steiner was a reincarnation of Christ.” — Doty Coplen, quoted by Ida Oberman in THE WALDORF MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION (Edwin Mellen Press, 2008), p. 239.

___________

"One could say that Waldorf education has a hidden agenda. Its curriculum is described in terms common to public schools in general; arithmetic, writing, reading, geography, botany, handicrafts, history, and so on. But in Steiner schools the dimensions of these subjects are threefold: they are artistic, cognitive, and religious ... [In Waldorf schools] religion is not an affair for Sunday alone or for theologians and priests. It is a dimension applicable to all our experience...." — Mary Caroline Richards, TOWARD WHOLENESS: Rudolf Steiner Education in America (Wesleyan University Press, 1980), pp. 164-165.

___________

"People who eat too many potatoes...tend to be weak in the head ... It is actually due to the fact that potatoes have come to be widely eaten in recent times that materialism has developed...." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM ELEPHANTS TO EINSTEIN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 44. 

___________

"Waldorf teachers must be anthroposophists first and teachers second ... [I]t must never be forgotten — and one must be emphatic about this — that the whole of teaching matter and method in Steiner schools is aimed at developing within each child the consciousness that spirit permeates everything in the world." — Gilbert Childs, STEINER EDUCATION IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (Floris Books, 1991), p. 176.

Waldorf education, in other words, is essentially religious. And the religion involved is Anthroposophy. Educating the children in all subjects aside from Anthroposophical religious beliefs is secondary.* "Waldorf teachers must be anthroposophists first and teachers second." Or, as Steiner put it, “As teachers in the Waldorf School, you will need to find your way more deeply into the insight of the spirit and to find a way of putting all compromises aside ... As Waldorf teachers, we must be true anthroposophists in the deepest sense of the word in our innermost feeling.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 118.

*Anthroposophical beliefs will generally be conveyed covertly, indirectly, rather than by explicit professions of faith. But, at least in misty form, they will be conveyed.

___________

"Gravity is...perceived only by those beings that live on a solid planet ... Beings who could live on a fluid planet would know nothing of gravity ... And beings who live on a gaseous planet would regard as normal something that would be the opposite of gravity ... [B]eings dwelling on a gaseous planet instead of seeing bodies falling towards the planet would see them always flying off.” — Rudolf Steiner, SCIENCE (Rudolf Steiner Press 2003), pp. 136-137. 

Like so many of Steiner’s statements, this bears no relation to reality. Gravity is greater on huge gaseous planets like Jupiter of Saturn than here on little, rocky Earth. We know, because we have sent space probes to those planets and used the gravity there to accelerate and redirect the probes, sending them on to more distant planets. There is no such thing as a planet that has no gravity or a planet that has antigravity.* Time after time, on subject after subject, Steiner simply did not know what he was talking about. Yet there are people who believe Steiner. And some of them are eager to "educate" your child at a Waldorf school.

* Of course, unlike Steiner, I do not claim to have absolute knowledge on such points. But what I am saying is in accord with what we actually know about planets and gravity, whereas Steiner's statement flies in this face of this knowledge. Planets exist because of gravity. The atoms of which a planet consists adhere to one another because of the attractive force of gravity. Without gravity, the atoms would disperse, and there would be no planet.

___________

"PLANS [People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools] pickets public Waldorf campuses, distributes flyers to parents and appeared before school boards ... [T]hey are not alone in the unease with Waldorf. Public teachers [who were] asked to take the Waldorf training in order to work at one of the Waldorf charter schools have echoed [PLANS’s] outrage. In ‘Charter for Indoctrination?’ a shocked former teacher at the San Diego charter [school] writes that the Waldorf movement advances religious beliefs in public-funded charter schools ... Parents also felt caught off-guard. At a class visit, Oak Ridge parent Terri Jennings determined that his first grade daughter was not leaning phonics and the mother was offended by [animistic] songs glorifying the Sun and Earth ... From the outside, Steiner critics, such as [leading PLANS member] Dan Dugan, maintain that Waldorf is ‘too religious.’ The question for others is whether or not Waldorf is ‘not religious enough.’” — Ida Oberman in THE WALDORF MOVEMENT IN EDUCATION (Edwin Mellen Press, 2008), pp. 265-266.

___________

"The Sun moves; it would outrun the Earth if the Earth simply revolved around the Sun. The Earth cannot revolve around the Sun because meanwhile the Sun would move away from it. In reality, the Sun moves on, and the Earth and the other planets follow it." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOURTH DIMENSION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 128. 

On occasion, Steiner accurately said that the planets orbit the Sun. But on numerous other occasions, he offered the occult "truth" that the planets actually travel in line with the Sun, describing a corkscrew pattern in space. In making such statements, he revealed the depth of his ignorance. [See "Deception" and "Steiner's Blunders".] The statement we see here is utterly preposterous, showing a complete lack of knowledge about gravity and orbital mechanics. Yet there are people who believe Steiner. And some of them are eager to "educate" your child at a Waldorf school.

___________

"Anthroposophy’s very nature as an esoteric worldview is predicated on the distinction between initiates and non-initiates, as well as on the notion of a ladder of knowledge which all initiates must climb step by step. These are the characteristic marks of an elitist mindset. Steiner also held that the German cultural elite, as the most spiritually advanced segment of the ‘Aryan race,’ had a special mission to redeem the world from materialism.” — Historian Peter Staudenmaier,  “The Art of Avoiding History”, http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/Art_of_Avoiding_History.htm. 

___________

"With the students, we should at least try to...make it clear that, for instance, an island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars. In actuality, such islands do not sit directly upon a foundation; they swim and are held fast from outside.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER  (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 607.

Rudolf Steiner’s teachings are chockablock with demonstrable, obvious falsehoods. The “exact clairvoyance” on which he relied did not work, obviously. Yet his followers accept his fallacies and fabrications. Do you want such people to “educate” your children? 

___________

Rudolf Steiner taught that the heart is not a pump. Astonishingly, such teachings do not inspire his followers to leap up shouting “This is nuts! Let me out of here!”

“As he* explains, the heart has a double action, situated as it is midway between the two poles.** But his description, differing so markedly from the usual medical supposition that it*** is a kind of pump, is worth giving in his own words.” — Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), p. 300.

* Rudolf Steiner.

** Two “systems” in the physical body described by Steiner: the “nerve and senses system” and the “metabolic and limb system” (I kid you not).

*** The heart.

Anthroposophists willfully turn their backs on factual knowledge. That the heart is "a kind of pump" is not a “supposition.” It is a well-established fact, known to everyone except, evidently, Rudolf Steiner and his followers. Do you want such people to “educate” your children? 

As for Steiner’s own words — Steiner said many times that the heart does not pump blood. Here’s my favorite version: “[Science] sees the heart as a pump that pumps blood through the body. Now there is nothing more absurd than believing this, for the heart has nothing to do with pumping the blood.” — Rudolf Steiner,  PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY, (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), p. 126. 

Absurd is the word. Do you want the followers of this man to “educate” your children?

___________

"Tuba mirum, Spargens sonum, Coget omnes ante thronum, coget omnes ante thronum, ante thronum. Per sepulchra regionum ...  coget omnes ante thronum.”  —THE SECOND WALDORF SONG BOOK  (Floris Books, 1993), compiled by Brien Masters, pp. 108-111.

These are the lyrics of one of the many religious songs published for use in “nondenominational, nonsectarian” Waldorf schools. Translated from the Latin, the song says “The trumpet, spreading its awful sound, will collect all before the throne, will summon all before the throne, before the throne. Through the graves of the regions ... [it] will drive mankind before the throne [of God].” The song describes the Last Judgment, when the “last trump” will sound and God will send each soul to its just reward or punishment. The occasional appearance of a religious song or poem in a school does not prove that the school is sectarian. But Waldorf students are are fed a continuous diet of prayers and hymns. Despite deceptive and, perhaps, self-deceiving claims to the contrary, Waldorf schools are religious institutions.

(“Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” — THE HOLY BIBLE, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, English Standard Version.)

For a quick survey of hymns included in THE WALDORF SONG BOOK and THE SECOND WALDORF SONG BOOK, see “Prayers”.

___________

"From the beginning, Steiner saw his task as the rescue of humanity ... [S]omething new must be created. But such a new revelation can no longer be received passively from the Gods, as was the case in previous epochs. It must now be created by, in, and through human beings.” — Christopher Bamford, Introduction, ANTHROPOSOPHY IN EVERYDAY LIFE - Four Lectures by Rudolf Steiner (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), pp. x-xi. 

Anthroposophists, including Waldorf teachers, are on a messianic mission. Like their guru, Rudolf Steiner, they are out to “rescue humanity.” They serve “the Gods” (Anthroposophy is polytheistic). In this service, they and their guru have created something “new...by, in, and through human beings.” This “new” creation is Anthroposophy (the word means “human wisdom”). Sadly, however, Anthroposophy is anything but new or enlightened or true. It is an amalgam of ancient myths, occult doctrines, and superstitions. It cannot “rescue” us. It can only drag us backwards into darkness.

___________

"Ecce sacerdos magnus, ecce sacerdos magnus, qui in diebus suis, qui in diebus suis placuit Deo.”  — “Ecce Sacerdos”, THE SECOND WALDORF SONG BOOK  (Floris Books, 1993), compiled by Brien Masters, pp. 122-123.

These lyrics come from one of the religious songs published for use in Waldorf schools. Translated from the Latin, the song says “Behold the high priest, behold the great priest, who in his days, who in his days pleased God.” Is a religious song sung in an ancient language likely to convey any meaning to the students? Certainly. Opaque lyrics will almost certainly be explained to the singers. Moreover, the sense of profundity and reverence may be enhanced by the use of liturgical Latin. And singing of priests and God in a school where the teachers consider themselves to be priests surely has an effect on at least some of the students. 

"The position of teacher becomes a kind of priestly office." — Rudolf Steiner, THE ESSENTIALS OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 23.

Waldorf “priests” lead their students to pray and worship during their schooldays. Waldorf schools are religious institutions.

___________

"One question that is often asked is: ‘Is a Waldorf school a religious school?’ ... It is not a religious school in the way that we commonly think of religion ... And yet, in a broad and universal way, the Waldorf school is essentially religious.” — Waldorf teacher Jack Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 134.

This book is strikingly reticent, concealing more than it reveals. Most of the beliefs dear to the hearts of Waldorf teachers are kept hidden. Thus, for instance, the index has no entries for Anthroposophy, clairvoyance, temperaments, karma, reincarnation... Several of these concepts sneak into the text, but usually in disguised form. Nonetheless, from time to time the author offers revelations, as in the admission that Waldorf schools are “in a broad and universal way” essentially religious.

___________

"Sanctus, sanctus, Sanctus, sanctus, Sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth, Dominus Deus Sabaoth.” — "Sanctus", THE SECOND WALDORF SONG BOOK  (Floris Books, 1993), compiled by Brien Masters, pp. 14-15.

These are the complete lyrics of one of the many hymns published for use in “nondenominational, nonsectarian” Waldorf schools. Translated from the Latin, the song addresses “The Holy One, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts, Lord God of Hosts.” The occasional appearance of a religious song or poem in a school does not prove that the school is sectarian. But Waldorf students are fed a continuous diet of prayers and hymns. Despite frequent denials — Anthroposophists, like Theosophists, like to claim that their system is a form of “science,” not a religion — Waldorf schools are religious institutions. 

___________

"Religious experience, like artistic feeling, has a strengthening effect on the Etheric Body ... Therefore, a religious mood should pervade the [Waldorf] teacher’s actions as well as the subjects of the curriculum.” — Richard Blunt, WALDORF EDUCATION: Theory and Practice (Novalis Press, 1995), p. 153.

Waldorf schools usually deny that they are religious institutions, yet Waldorf teachers attempt to bring religion into every subject studied. "It is possible to introduce a religious element into every subject, even into math lessons. Anyone who has some knowledge of Waldorf teaching will know that this statement is true." — Rudolf Steiner, THE CHILD's CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS AS THE BASIS OF PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 94. 

___________

"The mythical and religious content of the earliest grades [in a Waldorf school] bring the child to the same wellsprings  from which humanity began its great journey into awareness.” — Clifford Skoog, “Waldorf Education and Science”, in WALDORF EDUCATION -  A Family Guide (Michaelmas Press, 1992), edited by Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen L. Rivers,  p. 79.

Occasionally a Waldorf teacher slips up and acknowledges the religious nature of Waldorf schooling. Here Clifford Skoog — graduate of a Waldorf teacher-training program and part-time Waldorf teacher — summarizes very concisely the first several years of the Waldorf curriculum. Young students are immersed in myths and religious teachings in order to nudge them along the path toward “awareness” — by which Steiner and his followers mean clairvoyance.

___________

"Anthroposophy - A religious system evolved by R. Steiner (q.v.) from neo-Indian theosophy, but placing man instead of God in its centre. It aims at leading man by a certain discipline of 'concentration' and 'meditation' towards an 'intuition' in which the lower ego receives the vision of the higher self. Anthroposophy teaches a highly elaborated and fantastic doctrine of the origin of the world, the various epochs of mankind, the 'sun being' ('Sonnenwesen') Christ, reincarnation, and 'Karma'.” — F. L. Cross, THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Oxford University Press, 1970). 

___________

"As you know, we distinguish the Jews from the rest of the earth's population. The difference has arisen because the Jews have been brought up in the moon religion for centuries ... The Jews have a great gift for materialism, but little for recognition of the spiritual world.” — Rudolf Steiner, FROM BEETROOT TO BUDDHISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999), p. 59. 

In saying "The Jews have a great gift for materialism," Steiner was repeating one of the basic tenets of anti-Semitism: Jews are money-grubbing materialists who close their eyes to spiritual truth. 

In associating Jews with the Moon, Steiner was repeating another anti-Semitic tenet: The canard is that Jews are a parasitical people, battening on the creative work of other races, just as the Moon is a parasite of the Sun, since it shines only with light that it steals from the Sun. 

Steiner taught that Jehovah is not the Lord God Almighty. Jehovah (or Yahweh) is one of a vast throng of gods. Specifically, he is the god who presides over the Jews, which he does from his dwelling place: the Moon. As a Moon god, Jehovah is wholly inferior to Christ, the Sun God.

___________

"Human culture needs to be transformed according to a spiritual vision of the human being [i.e., Anthroposophy]. Every domain of human thought and activity — education, medicine, agriculture, social, economic and political life, art, architecture, religious life, care for the elderly, and so on — must be renewed on the basis of a spiritual understanding of the human being.” — Anthroposophist Ronald Koetzsh, “Anthroposophy 101”, http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/anthroposophy101.html

Anthroposophists are revolutionaries. It is important to absorb this fact. Anthroposophists want to overturn all existing human institutions, replacing them with their own occult institutions. And to achieve this revolutionary aim, they are prepared to do almost anything. This certainly includes lying to parents, enticing them to surrender their children to the ministrations of a messianic Waldorf faculty.

___________

"We now stand in the Fifth Root Race. The Sixth Race will see quite another race, noble and beautiful, in contrast to the thrown off [individuals], decadence which will be a race of men, horribly ugly, animal-like, sensual, vicious, far more horror-provoking than our present humanity, because these will go on developing downwards.” — Rudolf Steiner, DAS CHRISTLICHE MYSTERIUM (Dornach, 1981), GA 97.

In Theosophy, root races are fundamental races; other, subordinate races arise from them. There is one root race in each major stage of human evolution on Earth; as we evolve upward, we pass from one racial form to the next, higher racial form. Steiner adopted the term "root race" during his period as a Theosophical leader in Germany. Later, he dropped the term for the most part, but he retained the concept expressed in somewhat different terms.

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"The völkisch [i.e., German nationalistic] movement of the 1920s...advanced a new cosmic faith, embodied in ‘Aryan’ blood, that was to be grasped through intuition rather than science in a plethora of occult and esoteric spiritualistic faiths that abounded in Germany in the 1920s.” — Janet Biehl, in ECOFASCISM (AK Press, 1995), p. 33, by Janet Biehl and Peter Staudenmaier.

One of the occult faiths described by Biehl is Anthroposophy. Steiner was a German nationalist who believed in the Aryan myth and in the superiority of intuition over rational thought. [See, e.g., “Atlantis and the Aryans”, “Steiner and the Warlord”, “Steiner’s ‘Science’”, and “Steiner Static” (scroll to the quotations about Woodrow Wilson).] Biehl and Staudenmaier put Anthroposophy in its historical context. Nazism arose within the same context. [See “Sympathizers?”.] This is not to say that Anthroposophy and Nazism are the same; they are vastly different in most respects. But they bear some important similarities and they developed from the same social and cultural conditions. 

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"The reason why many Anthroposophical schools exist is because of the Anthroposophy, period. It's not because of the children ... In Anthroposophical Waldorf schools, absolutely everything centers around the task of implementing Steiner's spiritual scientific theories ... Each individual child's education takes a back seat to the spiritual scientific and cosmic Christian tasks and ideals of the Anthroposophical initiative.” — “Baandje,” a former Waldorf teacher [http://waldorfcritics.org/active/articles/baandje.html]

In brief: At real Waldorf schools, the education of children is not the main goal. The main goal is to enact Anthroposophy’s self-appointed messianic mission. [See “Spiritual Agenda”, “Report Card”, and “Weird Waldorf”.] 

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"[P]eople went away thinking that we spoke about Einstein, but knew nothing about him. Aside from that, the discussion leader thought that idiot was right. “ — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 326.

This is Steiner discussing a symposium in which he participated. When he discussed the theory of relativity, informed members of the audience thought he didn’t know what he was talking about . (I wonder why.) The “idiot” he mentions is Albert Einstein. One drawback to Anthroposophy is that in order to embrace it, you must reject most real knowledge. Einstein and Steiner both developed astonishing descriptions of reality. Einstein’s has been confirmed by numerous experiments and observations. Steiner’s has received no rational, factual confirmation. Before his death, in 1925, Steiner assured his followers that science would confirm his teachings. This hasn’t happened. 

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"Steiner had exceptional powers, he saw the future, he knew the truth.  If you truly need to learn, you need to study and follow Steiner. Steiner is all anyone ever needs to know.” — a Waldorf school teacher, quoted by a former colleague [http://www.montessorianswers.com/my-experiences-with-waldorf.html] 

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"It would be a mistake to view the lung as less spiritual than the nose.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE, Foundations of Waldorf Education, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 205.

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"Now let us take an extreme case and imagine that a man unites too fully with what is to constitute the character of an incarnation [i.e., he stalls at a certain racial level]. Let us suppose he reaches what is to be reached in sixteen incarnations; he takes the sixteen false paths. The earth does not wait for him, the earth goes forward and he finally arrives at a point where he can no longer incorporate in a human body, for none are in existence. There will be no more bodies in which souls that have grown too much involved in their bodily nature can incarnate. Such souls lose the possibility of incarnation and find no other opportunity ... They must therefore live a bodiless existence. They must cut themselves off entirely from the progress of evolution. Why have they deserved this? By reason of the fact that they have not made use of life! ... They do not advance with world evolution, they remain behind at a certain stage. Beings that stay behind at such stages appear in a later epoch with approximately the character of the earlier age. They have grown together with it [i.e., merged with it], but not in the forms of the later epoch. They appear in a later epoch as subordinate nature-spirits." — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), pp. 69-70.

The entire Earth and all the good people on it are evolving upwards. Evil or deficient people get left behind. If, during sixteen incarnations, you continuously choose the path of evil and falsehood, you will be unable to incarnate again. The members of the good races will have risen high, beyond race, while you and the other incorrigibles lose the last vestiges of humanity. Races will cease to exist, so there will be no lowly race left for you to incarnate in. Therefore, you will become a subhuman nature spirit — that is, a being like a goblin who cannot evolve in the proper, human way and who will be excluded from the joyous destiny of all the good (white and whiter-than-white) humans on Vulcan and beyond. [To glimpse the future of good humans, see “Sixth Epoch” and the pages that follow it. To pick up the thread earlier in our evolution, start at “Prehistory 101”.]

Anthroposophists argue strenuously that their belief system is not racist. Look, they say, everybody passes through all the racial levels. We are all the same. If you happen to be black in this incarnation, you are low on the ladder, but you will rise in future incarnations. We all were black once. This argument overlooks a few things. According to Steiner, it is not true that everyone passes through all levels. Some people stall at a lower-than-white stage — which means some people never become white. Moreover, Anthroposophy teaches that every black person is less evolved — and almost certainly less moral — than any white person. (The other races fall between the white and black poles.) Moreover, to be realistic for a moment, reincarnation is a fantasy. Thus, the racial identity of every person alive today is the only racial identity s/he will ever have. So believing that blacks are less evolved than whites means passing a permanent racial judgment. Racism means judging people based on race. If you hate someone because of race, you are a racist. If you love someone because of race, you are a racist. If you, a high white Anthroposophist, lovingly try to prepare a lowly black to rise in a future incarnation, you are a kind, loving racist. Anthroposophy is racist. [See “Steiner’s Racism”. To review all three parts of the recent Quotes of the Day, go to the end of this page.]

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“Man has either hardened or possesses the possibility of developing to higher stages [i.e., if you have not hardened your heart and soul, you have the potential to evolve upwards]. Races would not stay behind and become decadent if there were not men who wish to stay behind and are obliged to stay behind, since they have not developed their eternal life-kernel [i.e., spiritual essence]. Older races only persist because there are men who cannot or will not move forward to a higher racial form ... There are sixteen possibilities of becoming merged with the [i.e., a] race. They are called the ‘sixteen paths of perdition.’ On these paths man would merge with the material [i.e., become almost wholly material rather than spiritual]. By striving forward, however, he is drawn up from race to race to ever higher stages.” — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 69.

Most of Steiner’s teachings are absurd; some are also morally repugnant. When Steiner spoke of subhumans, people who are not really human, demons in human form, etc., he was not speaking metaphorically. He meant what he said, literally. In the passage above, Steiner is saying that we should evolve upwards toward increased spirituality. So far, so good. But in part, according to Steiner, the process requires us to evolve from low races to higher races: Each human soul should move upward through the hierarchy of races in successive incarnations. Old, low races continue to exist because some evil individuals do not move beyond them. And indeed, some people move downward, to lower and lower races. If an evil person makes profound moral errors in sixteen successive incarnations, s/he will become totally material — which is to say, totally unspiritual. Such a person ceases to be human. But good people, striving to evolve properly, rise to higher and higher races. 

I realize how repellent all of this is, but you haven’t heard the half of it yet. Today’s quote is actually the first part of a three-parter. Tomorrow: Part 2.

"We see then that it is actually possible for a man to combine with the one incarnation [i.e., to get stuck at one stage of development] in such a way that he remains behind in evolution. His other soul-brothers are therefore at a higher stage when he reappears in a new incarnation. He must then content himself with an inferior incarnation which has been left to him in a decadent race. This is something that positively takes place.” — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 69.

Today’s Quote picks up where yesterday’s left off. According to Steiner, we evolve upward from low races (black is lowest) to high races (white is highest). We do this through the process of reincarnation, returning in successive lives to racial forms that are a step down or a step up from where we stood before. If you are good in one life, you will return in a higher race next time around; if you are bad, you will return in a lower race. However, sometimes people stall at particular levels. If you have incarnated in a race that perfectly suits your level of moral and spiritual development,  you may stall there, unable to go further up or down. If this happens, you fall behind the other souls of your generation. Thus, in the next incarnation, you (the retard) will be racially inferior to your previous peers (the virtuous upward evolvers). The race you stay in should have died out when everyone evolved beyond it, but because you and other deficient individuals stay at that level, the race continues to exist, but only in a decadent form.

(Steiner said decadent races exist because demons interfered in our evolution: 

“While there should have been basically only one form of human being...Lucifer and Ahriman [interfered] ... That is how it came about that physically different races inhabited the earth and are still there in our time although evolution should really have proceeded.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1990), p. 75.)

I realize how repellent all of this is, but there is worse to come. Today’s quote from NATURE SPIRITS is the second part of a three-parter. Tomorrow: Part 3.

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“[T]here will appear upon Jupiter the destructive forces of love from beings who have remained behind. Into the midst of the general tapestry of the Jupiter existence will be set the hideous forms of the retarded beings with egoistic demands for love, and they will be the mighty devastating powers in the Jupiter existence.” — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 72.

Until you get the hang of reading Steiner, his statements can seem like gibberish. But they can be deciphered. Thus, he taught that after our Earth phase of evolution, we will proceed to the Jupiter phase. There, the good people who are evolving upward at the proper pace will be plagued by other spirits who are evolutionary laggards. These hideous, retarded folks will make selfish demands for affection. They will become the agents of destruction upon Jupiter.

(I said we can learn to understand Steiner. I didn’t say we will necessarily find his statements plausible or palatable.) 

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“I wouldn’t be surprised if the last few pages [describing Steiner’s planetary scheme of evolution] have taxed some readers’ capacity for giving Steiner the benefit of the doubt and left them wondering who could possibly believe this science fiction story. Yet this cosmic history is the backbone of Steiner’s work. How, we may ask, could he possibly know these things? Although Steiner had been privy to the spiritual worlds since childhood, he tells us that around the time that he became involved in the Theosophical Society, he ‘stood within the spiritual world in full consciousness.’” — Gary Lachman, RUDOLF STEINER (Jeremy P. Tarchman, 2007), pp. 147-148.

Although Lachman is sometimes mistaken for an objective scholar, he is actually a Steiner fan (“Steiner had been privy to the spiritual worlds since childhood...”). He frames some passages in mildly skeptical terms (“We may take some, perhaps most, of his occult insights with a grain or two of salt...” [Ibid., p. 236]), but overall he embraces Steiner. “His devotion to the human spirit, however, and the good that came of it — this remains undeniable....”  [Ibid., p. 236.]

In assessing Lachman’s work, we might ask ourselves 1) Is there such a thing as an “occult insight?” Lachman thinks there is, and he thinks Steiner had such insights. 2) Should we accept these "insights" with a little salt or reject them outright? 3) Are such things as Anthroposophical medicine and Waldorf schooling "undeniable" benefits or highly questionable concoctions? 

If you’re looking for a balanced report on Steiner and his works, a far better source is Geoffrey Ahern’s THE SUN AT MIDNIGHT (James Clarke & Co, 2009). 

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“Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia."

This is the complete text of one of the hymns included in THE WALDORF SONG BOOK [Floris Books, 1992, "corrected" edition]. For more hymns and prayer-songs included in the book, see “Prayers”; scroll down. "Alleluia," a variant of "hallelujah," means "God be praised." 

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“It is easy to poke fun at those ‘crazy anthroposophists,’ who speak in these terms of suprasenory beings* in the sensory world.** But if these convictions, based not on weird fantasies but on well-grounded knowledge,*** are carried into teaching, those whose task is to educate young people can observe growing children realistically, as beings of body, soul, and spirit.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Books, 2009), p. 234.

* I.e., supernatural beings that cannot be perceived in any normal way.

** The supernatural beings are invisible, but they really exist in the world, according to Waldorf belief.

*** The “knowledge” that can reveal these invisible beings is clairvoyance, according to Waldorf belief.

Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf teachers have long claimed that Anthroposophy is not taught to Waldorf students. This is not quite true, but let it go for a moment. Do you like the idea that Waldorf teachers bring their occult “convictions” into the classroom, and that only by doing so can they understand their students and thus know how to guide them? Waldorf schools derive all their basic convictions from Anthroposophy; almost every class and activity at Waldorf schools is connected to Anthroposophy; the inner circle of Waldorf teachers study Anthroposophy and indeed are Anthroposophists. If you want your child to be educated in a spiritual atmosphere, you may want to consider a Waldorf school. But unless you embrace Anthroposophy itself, the school may be very wrong for you and your family. Some basic Waldorf beliefs are that the world is full of invisible beings, ranging from goblins to high gods; these “suprasensory” beings can be detected if you develop clairvoyance; and Waldorf teachers serve as priests on a messianic mission to steer human evolution in the proper directions (i.e., the directions Steiner indicated). Don’t poke fun at bonzo Anthroposophists. But understand that Anthroposophists are very serious about their mission, and one of the main ways they try to fulfill this mission is through Waldorf schools. 

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"Unconquered hero of the skies

St. Michael —

Against the foe with us arise,

Thine aid we pray the foe to slay,

St. Michael."

This is one of the songs in THE WALDORF SONG BOOK (Floris Books, 1992), complied by Brien Masters. Other songs in the book include "For All the Saints", "Alleluia For All Things," "St. Francis' Hymn", and "The Lord My Pasture Shall Prepare." Keep reminding yourself: Waldorf schools claim that they are not religious institutions. 

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“The people here calling themselves Waldorf Critics (G_d bless 'em) represent a *very small minority* of dissatisfied whiners — bloated by the internet." — Frank Thomas Smith, an Anthroposophical writer and editor, in a discussion at waldorf-critics. [See "Help!"]

(Without meaning to, Smith says the Waldorf Critics are a small minority of the presumably huge number of "dissatisfied whiners" (i.e., people who are dissatisied with Waldorf education). Smith didn't mean this, of course. But he is probably, if unintentionally, right.)

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“[Y]ou will not be able to find out what happens on the Sun or on Venus if you cannot apply this method of placing your consciousness into the life and activity of a bee community."  — Rudolf Steiner, BEES (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 170. 

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“From 1919 on, we hear less [from Rudolf Steiner] about the special mission of the German people and more about the idea that German political power must be sustained in order to balance America and Britain in the West against Russia in the East ... Arguments about national character were part of a larger, older and darker controversy about the Aryans, and they underline the racist side of occultism.” — Peter Washington, MADAME BLAVATSKY’S BABOON (Secker & Warburg, 1993), p. 165.

It will come as a surprise to people who think Waldorf schools are progressive, but in fact the thinking behind the schools is extremely backward. Rudolf Steiner was a German nationalist who was leery of democracy. He designed Waldorf education specifically to meet the needs of Aryan German children, and his doctrines are laced through with racism. See, e.g., “Steiner and the Warlord”, “Democracy”, “Atlantis and the Aryans”, “The Good Wars”, and "Steiner’s Racism”. 

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Public schools stink. We all know this. But wait a moment. 

"The annual Gallup poll about education shows that Americans are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with the quality of the nation's schools, but 77 percent of public school parents award their own child's school a grade of A or B, the highest level of approval since the question was first asked in 1985." — Diane Ravitch, "The Myth of Charter Schools", THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS, Nov. 11, 2010, p. 22.

Public schools stink. But more than three-quarters of people who have specific knowledge of specific public schools rate them as good or excellent. Hmm. Think carefully, parents, before you take your child out of a public school and consign him/her to a "better" school. The "better" school may be much worse. 

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“A youth whose childhood has been touched by the blight of 'critical thinking' will come to the moment of independent insight badly crippled ... Because skepticism has long since robbed him of part of his heart, he will now feel unable to embrace enthusiastically what he has come to understand." — American Anthroposophist John F. Gardner, THE EXPERIENCE OF KNOWLEDGE (Waldorf Press, 1975), pp. 127-128.

Critical thinking is nothing more than using your brain to logically consider the world around you. Waldorf schools discourage this, since the world they believe in is obviously false, if one uses one's brain.

Longtime Waldorf students, having been immersed in a flood of Anthroposophical nonsense for many years, "understand" things as Anthroposophists do. Unfortunately, what they "understand" is wrong, as one can easily see if one uses one's brain. 

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“[S]he* does not hesitate to quote Steiner as saying that no-one but the most experienced occultist, who stands at the end of his or her path,** can really make use of astrology. She also quotes Steiner as writing that the real astrology was an intuitive knowledge and required the development of higher supersensible powers*** which, he said, can be present in very few persons today.****” — Norman Davidson in the foreword to Vreede’s ANTHROPOSOPHY AND ASTROLOGY (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. xiii.

* Elizabeth Vreede, who — Steiner said — understood Steiner’s teachings better than anyone else.

** Vreede accepted Steiner’s self-description as a most experienced occultist who had virtually reached the end of his path, attaining extensive and profound occult knowledge.

*** “Exact clairvoyance.” 

**** Steiner unashamedly admitted that he possessed powers and knowledge that virtually no one else alive possessed.

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“The animal man of the Moon [did] not yet have firm bones ... [T]he Moon of that time did not have a thin, airy atmosphere ... [I]ts envelope was considerably thicker, even denser than the water of today.” — Rudolf Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY (SteinerBooks, 1987), p. 194. 

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“Two stages of development of technology: destruction leading to expulsion of nature spirits, and creation of new connections in accordance with natural laws leading to adoption of ahrimanic laws ... Active participation in the ideas of spiritual science means facing up to Ahriman. Art and technology as a pendulum swing between Lucifer and Ahriman.” — Synopsis, lecture 1, Rudolf Steiner, ART AS SEEN IN THE LIGHT OF MYSTERY WISDOM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. vii.

Steiner taught that we live in an unusually physical period. If we had lived in a prior period or if we proceed to a later period, the universe was/will be far more spiritual and we would see that Steiner is right about virtually everything. In those periods, clairvoyance is universal. For now, however, we just have to take his word for everything (unless we take his word for everything and, following his instructions, develop clairvoyance now). The modern, physical world is a pretty terrible place, a place where the truths of Steiner's teachings are not self-evident. As modern, benighted humans who think Steiner was a nut, we exploit nature, which drives out the nature spirits (beings such as gnomes and sylphs). Then we rearrange nature in a way that leads us to fall under the dominion of the devil Ahriman. (This happens when we confine ourselves to natural laws, i.e., laws that apply only on the physical plane. These are the laws that scientists foolishly monkey with and that technologists exploit for their nefarious ends. Natural laws lead downward to the pit where Ahriman lies in wait.) Being an active spiritual scientist — i.e., an Anthroposophist trying to become clairvoyant — means facing up to Ahriman. Human creations, art and technology, swing back and forth between Ahriman and his cohort/competitor Lucifer. Each of these demons offers us alluring benefits, but each would thereby destroy us. Christ the Sun God stands between Ahriman and Lucifer, moderating their actions so that we can get the benefits without suffering destruction. This is just what Germany does, standing between America (Ahriman) and Russia (Lucifer). OK? Clear? [See, e.g., "Steiner and the Warlord" and "The Good Wars".] 

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“[In college] I chose to study psychology and astrology ... I began to study Anthroposophy ... I went to work as a Waldorf teacher ... After two years, we left to start a Waldorf School in South Dakota ...  Financial hardships forced the teachers [there] to abandon Waldorf education ... I didn’t agree with this ... I went to teach Special Education on the Pine Ridge [Amerindian] Reservation ... After two years I went to work in the public school system ... [W]e found a Waldorf school where I could teach and our children attend ... I took my graduating class to Europe ... Upon returning, I went to work as an insurance agent/financial planner ... I found a position [at a Waldorf school] in Kona, Hawaii ... I was forced out due to political differences ... My last teaching attempt was at a Waldorf school in Bellevue, Washington. To my dismay I found that the Waldorf school was not following Rudolf Steiner’s indications ... I retired and began to devote my time to astrology....” — Ron Odama, ASTROLOGY AND ANTHROPOSOPHY (Bennett & Hastings, 2009), pp. viii-xi.

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“It might have been very awkward for certain brotherhoods if, before being burned at the stake, a witch had revealed what lay behind them. For it is true that...there can be a kind of telephone connection with the spiritual world, and that by this route all sorts of secrets can come out. Those who burned the witches did so for a very good reason: It would have been very awkward for them if the witches had revealed anything to the world....” — Rudolf Steiner, SPIRITUALISM, MADAME BLAVATSKY, AND THEOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), p. 217. 

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“Aware as they* became through his** lectures...of how spiritual beings,*** especially Michael,**** stood behind their work,***** they could not help but feel that they must devote all that they had in them to the furtherance of this work.” — Stewart C. Easton, RUDOLF STEINER: Herald of a New Dawn (Anthroposophic Press, 1980), p. 347.

* Anthroposophists.

** Rudolf Steiner's.

*** Gods.

**** The Archangel of the Sun.

***** Work as “spiritual scientists,” Waldorf teachers, etc.

Like the true believers in other faiths, Anthroposophists consider themselves to be on a holy mission, blessed from above. They think their work includes the necessary development of clairvoyance, and they assert that with clairvoyance they can confirm or even correct the clairvoyant observations made by Steiner. In reality, however, they lack the ability to check Steiner, because clairvoyance is a delusion. So they generally accept Steiner's teachings on faith. And they do this despite the astonishing and obvious absurdities mouthed by Steiner. [See, e.g., “Steiner’s Blunders”.] 

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“When human beings cling too strongly to earthly things it may be difficult for them to find their bearings in the sphere of the Moon Beings ... The moon-influences are not really active below the roots of plants [on Earth] ... The moon-influences, rising like mist from this shallow layer, may cause human beings who have to pass after death into the Moon sphere — the soul-world — but are unable to understand the Moon Beings, to be trapped by this shallow stratum of moon-influences and they can actually be seen by sensible-supersensible perception [i.e., ordinary perception and clairvoyance] wandering about as ghosts, as spectral shades.” — Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONS, Vol. 2 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1974), pp. 150-151.

Steiner neither wrote nor spoke sensibly. Here he's saying that after we die, we do not go to Heaven or Hell but to the sphere of the Moon — that is, the portion of the universe contained within the Moon's area of greatest spiritual influence. If, after death, you cannot establish a fruitful relationship with the inhabitants of the Moon, you will become a ghost, on Earth. In brief: He says there are beings living on the Moon and there are ghosts on the Earth.

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“I am a missionary on behalf of [Rudolf] Steiner." — An instructor in a Waldorf teacher-training program. Waldorf teachers receive a training unlike that received by any other teachers anywhere. [See “Teacher Training”.] 

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“Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) did not discard the intellectual accomplishments of our scientific age but, by utilizing them, researched another dimension, which is needed to complement the admirable achievements of the natural, physical and psychological sciences of our time. His method, called ‘spiritual science.’ or ‘anthroposophy’ (anthropos = humankind, sophia = wisdom), can be learned by anyone who applies great stamina of will, concentration, and intent.” — Gunther Hauk, in the introduction to Rudolf Steiner’s  BEES (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. viii. 

In this passage, Hauk frames for us the central claim made by Steiner’s followers. The claim suffers from one defect: It is entirely untrue. • Steiner frequently and repeatedly disparaged intellect and modern science, associating them with the terrible demon Ahriman. • There is nothing scientific about “spiritual science,” which hinges on the use of imagination, intuition, inspiration, and — at its “highest” level — clairvoyance. Three of these are subjective states of mind, while the fourth is an illusion. They do not produce verifiable, objective, scientific results. • No one can learn Steiner’s method, because it is delusory. If you think you are clairvoyant, you are deluding yourself. If you have “clairvoyant visions,” you are fantasizing or hallucinating. [See, e.g., “Is Anthroposophy Science?”, “Steiner’s 'Science'”, “Clairvoyance”, and “Steiner’s Specific”.] The most troubling part of all this is that many Waldorf school teachers think they are clairvoyant “spiritual scientists.” This should automatically disqualify them from holding positions as educators. 

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“I have nothing against using a textbook, but all of them are bad.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 284. 

Ordinary textbooks are rarely used in Waldorf schools. The problem for Waldorf teachers is that their view of reality is inconsistent with the view presented by rational scholars. Thus, even when Waldorf teachers try to refrain from indoctrinating their students (i.e., shoving Anthroposophy down their throats), they simultaneously try to refrain from teaching the students non-Anthroposophical concepts and facts. The result is a mess. “Everything you read in newspapers, magazines, and books is wrong,” they tell their students. “But we won’t tell you the truth,” they say, “because we don’t want to indoctrinate you.” And then, sometimes (pretty often, really), they break down and tell the students the “truth” — i.e., Anthroposophical claptrap. 

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“Knowledge of the Atlantean stage of human development [i.e., the stage that occurred when we lived on Atlantis] was important to Steiner for precisely this reason, as a part of our understanding of human evolution overall.” — Anthroposophist Andrew J. Welburn, Introduction to ATLANTIS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2001),  p. 3. 

Anthroposophy largely consists of myths and fairy tales, including the myth of Atlantis. Steiner taught that we have evolved in a quite amazing fashion. We started on or during Old Saturn, then proceeded to the Old Sun, then the Old Moon, and now the Present Earth, evolving and changing all along the way. Here on Earth we initially evolved through two extremely hazy periods, the Polarian followed by the Hyperborean. Then we lived for a while on the continent of Lemuria, which sadly sank. So we proceeded to Atlantis, which sadly sank. We now live on various other continents, all of which are liable to sink because they float in the sea and are held in position by the stars. 

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• “In this materialistic age, it is a fact that children will become idiotic through lefthandedness, or when both hands are used alternately." — Rudolf Steiner, quoted by Gerda Hueck in THE PROBLEM OF LEFTHANDEDNESS (St. George Publications, 1978), p. 15.

• “We should always correct lefthandedness.” — Rudolf Steiner. Ibid., p. 16.

• "If one would want to bring about symmetry between right and left, if one would practice with both hands equally, it could lead to feeble-mindedness in later years. The phenomenon of lefthandedness is distinctly a phenomenon of karma, a phenomenon of karmic weakness.”  — Rudolf Steiner. Ibid., p. 17.  

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“The feeling life of the child will be further engaged by presenting each animal ... [W]e help the children see the perfected specialization of each animal species, be it a wing, fin, webbed foot, claw, and so on, in contrast to the blessing and gift of the nonspecialization of the human physical body with its infinite possibilities to create and invent.” — Anthroposophist Astrid Schmitt-Stegmann, Introduction to Steiner’s lectures compiled as PRACTICAL ADVICE TO TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 2000), p. xiv. 

In Waldorf schools, the “feeling life” is far more important than the thinking life, because Steiner taught that we find the higher spirit worlds through emotion, not thought. He also taught that human beings are the center of the created universe, and we did not evolve from animals — rather, he said, they evolved from us. [See, e.g., “Center” and “Evolution, Anyone?”]  

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“The Science of the Spirit [i.e., Anthroposophy] teaches us the art of forgetting ... [T]his is the very mood in which one should face one’s pupils [as a Waldorf school teacher] ... All memorized matter should disappear from the mind to make room for an actively receptive spirit. Allowing spiritual science to flow into one’s sphere of ideation will fructify the art of education.” — Rudolf Steiner, quoted by Eugene Schwartz in the Introduction to THE RENEWAL OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2001), pp. 14-15.

Forgetting knowledge — indeed forgetting reality — is necessary if you wish to become an Anthroposophist or a true-blue Waldorf school teacher. Flush out knowledge and free the mind for delusion. 

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“Once I knew a man who had quite an unusual forehead ...  This man actually had a pronounced bulge, and his forebrain was actually pushed out. I am convinced that this man, whose brain was pushed forward so much, possessed a particularly well-formed abdomen and never suffered from diarrhea or constipation ... [H]is powerful, protruding forehead never permitted disorders of the abdomen." — Rudolf Steiner, FROM COMETS TO COCAINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), pp. 150-151. 

It takes all kinds, I guess. Some MDs — not many, but  few — find good sense in Steiner’s medical teachings. This calls into question their own good sense. [See "Steiner's Quackery" and "What We Are".]

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“At the turning-point of time,

The Spirit-Light of the world

Entered the stream of earthly evolution.

Darkness of night had held  its sway;

Day-radiant Light poured into the souls of men.

Light that gave warmth to simple shepherds' hearts

Light that enlightened the wise heads of kings.

O Light Divine. O Sun of Christ!

Warm Thou our hearts,

Enlighten Thou our heads,

That good may become

What from our hearts we would found

And from our heads direct

With single purpose."

— Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING  (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), pp. 13-14.  

Although Anthroposophy "is not a religion," it contains a surprising number of prayers. Note that this prayer is addressed not to the Son of God but to the "Sun of Christ." The Christ worshiped by Anthroposophists is Ra, the Sun God. Anthroposophy is a religion, but it is not Christian. It is pagan. Ra.

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“I consider antisemites to be harmless people.”  — Rudolf Steiner, “Die Sehnsucht der Juden nach Palästina,” Magazin für Literatur, vol. 66 no. 38, 1897. 

Steiner was an anti-Semite and a German nationalist. [See "RS on Jews" and "Steiner and the Warlord".] As a result, many Anthroposophists are Holocaust deniers. Steiner, a self-professed clairvoyant who claimed the ability to see the future, did not foresee the Holocaust. By the end of World War II, harmless German anti-Semites had slaughtered more than 6,000,000 Jewish men, women, and children. 

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“During this period, spiritual science [i.e., Anthroposophy] experienced a considerable breakthrough. The first Waldorf school, founded in September, 1919, was flourishing, and seeds had been planted for similar schools in Holland and England." — René Querido, Introduction, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1995).

Faculty and staff at Waldorf schools often neglect to tell parents that their primary goal is not educating children but spreading Anthroposophy. Note that the "breakthrough" for spiritual science was the founding of the first Waldorf school.

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“German-Nordic man has an interest in an Angel-being who is endowed with special power ... And that Being is Thor ... Thor plays an active part in the implanting of the individual ego [in human beings] ... Germanic-Nordic man sees this clairvoyantly....” — Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), pp. 134-135. 

Norse myths are told and studied in Waldorf schools for reasons that may surprise you: Steiner taught that the Norse gods really exist; Norse myths contain a true picture of human evolution; and, according to Steiner, the highest racial group, the Aryan German-Nordic, has had a special connection with the Norse gods. [See "The Gods" and "Rankings".] 

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“Based on the insights of Rudolf Steiner, and enriched by the diversity of our community, our methods of teaching reflect an understanding of the growing child and acknowledge the spiritual origins of humanity.” — From the mission statement of a typical Waldorf school, Oct. 16, 2010. I’d like to think that most of the people who pledge allegiance to Steiner do it innocently — they do not understand that Steiner's teachings are occultist, racist, irrational, and pagan. But I’m sure that at least some of them do know (I’m acquainted with some of them) — they see these things as virtues or at least as excusable. In this, they are wrong. (Sorry.)

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“Around the middle of the fifth cycle [an evolutionary stage] the ‘Sons of Fire’ [gods two levels above man] have developed so far that they can inoculate the ether body [i.e., an invisible body animating the physical body] ... They now relieve the ‘Spirits of Personality’ [gods three levels above man] in the work on this ether body ... In this period they abandon the physical body to the Sons of Twilight (in Christianity, Angels, in theosophy, Lunar Pitris) [gods one level above man]. In the meantime, the latter have acquired a dull image consciousness such as man will have on the Moon. On Saturn they had given the ancestor of man a kind of organ of understanding ... [T]hrough the human body the Seraphim can already reveal themselves on the Sun before the middle of the fifth cycle in a more complete manner than was possible on Saturn.” — Rudolf Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY  (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1959), Chapter 15, “The Life of the Sun.”

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“[I]n our time certain supernumerary people are appearing who have no 'I' and are therefore not human beings in the full sense of the word." — Rudolf Steiner, THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND THE WORK OF THE PRIEST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1998), p. 180. 

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“[Demons] attack human beings during the embryonic stage ... Some of these spirits...can continue to accompany the human being after birth, creating the phenomena seen in children who are possessed." — Rudolf Steiner, ANGELS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 168.

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“Must teachers be clairvoyant in order to be certain that they are teaching in the proper way? Clairvoyance is needed....” — Waldorf educator Eugene Schwartz, MILLENNIAL CHILD (Anthroposophic Press, 1999), p. 157.

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“Rudolf Steiner is both a mystic and an occultist. These two natures appear in him in perfect harmony ... From the age of eighteen, young Steiner possessed the spontaneous consciousness of this two-fold current ... Thenceforth he had the unmistakable sensation of occult powers....” — Esotericist Edouard Schuré,  “The Personality of Rudolf Steiner And His Development”.

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“The computer is special because of its relation to the spiritual being here called Ahriman." — Statement concerning THE COMPUTER AND THE INCARNATION OF AHRIMAN (Rudolf Steiner College Press). Ahriman is a terrible evil spirit in Zoroastrianism and Anthroposophy.

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“Anthroposophy will be in the [Waldorf] school.” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER  (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 495.

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“If a person, let us say, has told a lie during the day, its effect remains in the physical body ...  Let us suppose this person is altogether un-truthful, piling up lies ... [B]eings which have been created in the physical body through the effect of lying and slander [become] detached from the spiritual world. [They] now flit and whir about in our world and belong to the class that we call 'phantoms' ... They multiply through lies and calumnies, and these in actual fact populate our earthly globe with phantoms." — Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), pp. 83-84.

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“Our thoughts create spiritual beings who live, for real, in the spirit realm. We have evidence of this in the plays of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's thoughts created real beings who live in the spirit realm...." — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998, Volumes 1 & 2), p. 336.

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“The evil race, with its savage impulses, will dwell in animal form in the abyss.” — Rudolf Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 103.

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• "It was known to the initiated priests of these Mysteries that the sublime Sun-Spirit of whom they spoke to the worshippers is the same Being as He who would later be called the Christ.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE FESTIVALS AND THEIR MEANING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 271.

• “Had Christ not appeared on the earth, had He remained the Sun-God only, humanity on the earth would have fallen into decay.” — Ibid., p. 277.

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“[I]t was the normal human beings that were...the most capable of evolving. [Abnormal] peoples whose ego impulse was developed too strongly gradually wandered to the West [from Atlantis] and became...the Red Indians of America. [Likewise, the abnormal] people whose ego-feeling was too little developed migrated to the East, and became the subsequent Negro population of Africa ... [T]hey deposited too many carbonic constituents in their skin and became black. This is why the Negroes are black. Thus both east of Atlantis in the black population and west of Atlantis in the red population we find survivors of the kind of people who had not developed their ego-feeling in a normal way. The human beings who had developed normally lent themselves best to progress.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE BEING OF MAN AND HIS FUTURE EVOLUTION (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1981), pp. 118-119.

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“With pneumonia, the cause is always in the astral body;  pneumonia can occur in no other way." — Rudolf Steiner THE TEMPLE LEGEND (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1997), p. 60. 

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“On one side we find the black race, which is earthly at most. If it moves to the West, it becomes extinct. We also have the yellow race, which is in the middle between earth and the cosmos. If it moves to the East, it becomes brown, attaches itself too much to the cosmos, and becomes extinct. The white race is the future, the race that is Spiritually creative.”  — Rudolf Steiner, VOM LEBEN DES MENSCHEN UND DER ERDE - ÜBER DAS WESEN DES CHRISTETUMS (Verlag Der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung, 1961), GA 349, p. 62.

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“[T]he phlegmatic child will not sit with the mouth open but with a closed mouth and drooling lips.” — Rudolf Steiner, DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 30. 

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“[O]ne can only understand all that is spiritual in the correct sense if one first examines how this spiritual element operates within people precisely through the color of their skin." — Rudolf Steiner, VOM LEBEN DES MENSCHEN UND DER ERDE - ÜBER DAS WESEN DES CHRISTENTUMS (Verlag Der Rudolf Steiner-Nachlassverwaltung, 1961), GA 349, p. 52.

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Here is the complete text from which the Quotes for November 17-19, 2010, were drawn:

We shall now picture those who listen to the great Leader of humanity. They will preserve the soul with its eternal life-kernel. Mankind will have gone forward but they too will appear in an ever progressed form. He however who thrusts the Leader of humanity from him must reappear again and again in the same way. That is the legend of Ahasuerus, who has thrust from him the Christ, the Leader of humanity. Man has either hardened or possesses the possibility of developing to higher stages. Races would not stay behind and become decadent if there were not men who wish to stay behind and are obliged to stay behind, since they have not developed their eternal life-kernel. Older races only persist because there are men who cannot or will not move forward to a higher racial form. I cannot today speak about the whole series of possibilities, in the course of earthly evolution, for man to become one with the race, to grow together with what is the character of one race or another. Think of the Atlantean race; souls have gone through it, but not all have passed out of it. There are sixteen possibilities of becoming merged with the race. They are called the “sixteen paths of perdition.” On these paths man would merge with the material. By striving forward, however, he is drawn up from race to race to ever higher stages.

We see then that it is actually possible for a man to combine with the one incarnation in such a way that he remains behind in evolution. His other soul-brothers are therefore at a higher stage when he reappears in a new incarnation. He must then content himself with an inferior incarnation which has been left to him in a decadent race. This is something that positively takes place. It need not frighten people, however, for the present phase of evolution. No one is obliged to take all the sixteen paths and thereby fall out of evolution. We must only be aware of the possibility.

Now let us take an extreme case and imagine that a man unites too fully with what is to constitute the character of an incarnation. Let us suppose he reaches what is to be reached in sixteen incarnations; he takes the sixteen false paths. The earth does not wait for him, the earth goes forward and he finally arrives at a point where he can no longer incorporate in a human body, for none are in existence. There will be no more bodies in which souls that have grown too much involved in their bodily nature can incarnate. Such souls lose the possibility of incarnation and find no other opportunity. Just think what they will have lost. It is possible, but only in exceptional cases, that even during Earth evolution souls will be unable to incarnate because there are no more bodies bad enough. These men have gone so far that they have no other opportunity of incarnating in the normal course of evolution. Let us suppose such beings should remain on the earth — it will only be single cases. And now, since the later is the fruit of the earlier, these would then find no bodies suitable for them. They are, as it were, too good for the bodies of a subordinate order and for the other bodies they are too bad. They must therefore live a bodiless existence. They must cut themselves off entirely from the progress of evolution. Why have they deserved this? By reason of the fact that they have not made use of life! The world is around them; they have possessed senses in order to perceive the world, to enrich the life-kernel and mold it to a higher stage. They do not advance with world evolution, they remain behind at a certain stage. Beings that stay behind at such stages appear in a later epoch with approximately the character of the earlier age. They have grown together with it, but not in the forms of the later epoch. They appear in a later epoch as subordinate nature-spirits. In fact the human race will furnish a whole number of such new nature-spirits in the second half of the Jupiter evolution, for man will have fully completed the fifth principle at the Jupiter stage. For those who have not used the opportunity on Earth to develop the fifth principle there will be no available form. They will appear as nature-spirits and they will appear then with four principles, the fourth being the highest. Whereas the normally advanced man will have the principles 5, 4, 3, 2 at the Jupiter stage, these men will have 4, 3, 2, 1. That would be the destiny of those who have not gradually developed their higher principles by making use of earthly life. They become nature-spirits, so to speak, of future evolutionary periods, working invisibly. Just the same occurred in the case of our present nature-spirits in the earlier periods of evolution, except in so far as there are, of course, continual changes according to the character of the different periods. Everything has now been graded, so to speak, according to moral responsibility, and because this is so, the nature-spirits that arise from the human race will have a certain morality. Upon Jupiter there will be nature-spirits which have moral responsibility.

— Rudolf Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), pp. 69-70.

[R.R.]